The (Grown Up) Lunch Bag

If you've been paying close attention to my outfits, you would have noticed that this week I wore heels twice - and these have been the first for quite some time.  I have hardly worn heels this year at all.  And it's not just that I've been feeling lazy, or wanting to take care of my feet/legs/ankles/knees or anything like that.  It's mostly because I haven't had enough bag space.  My lunch bag (one of those 'green bag' type things, but a small version) started to get some holes.  And then it disintegrated entirely.  So all my lunch, plus insulated cup, plus scarf/cardigan/hat - all these things have been in my main bag.  No room for heels.

Surprisingly, it wasn't my outfits that drove the upgrade.  It was me taking home my insulated cup that wasn't empty.  And I didn't realise until a day later.  On Monday, I bought a grown up, dedicated lunch bag.  One that can be wiped down to be cleaned. 

The bonus is that I can now fit heels in my bag, and potentially spilly stuff in the new black and white bag which isn't going to get punctured by a fork or a pencil or whatever else I put in my old bag.  I hope.

In Retrospect - Fifth Quarter

I feel that I have been rather different this quarter compared to this time last year.  Or any quarter last year, in fact.  When compiling a list earlier today though, I was a bit stumped.  I'd been meaning to compile this list on the go... Hopefully, I'll be better at that in the next 3 months.

New Year Resolutions.  I'll admit it - I'm not doing fabulously well on this front.  My running goal is just not happening.  However, I'm hoping the holidays, as well as the proximity of my next running event, will get that going again.  The other goals are doing moderately well (see below).

Food.  Apart from the Easter eggs, I'm doing really well with the No Pre-made Chocolate thing.  Giving up sugar for Lent possibly helped, but I didn't really crave a block of chocolate.  Making my own - and knowing exactly what went into it - satisfied any chocolate urges I had.  Okay, not 'any' but 'all of the'.  I haven't made as many new recipes as I would have liked, but the recent dip into a recipe book has rekindled that little flame.  (Looking forward to dinner tonight!).

Students.  I have been much better at communication with parents this year.  I used to let things slide, and intend to contact a parent about something but then not get around to it.  Sometimes this doesn't really matter, but sometimes it does.  This year, I have been good.  I didn't realise just how good until I was sending out next term's invoices (on time - go me!).  Except for a boarder, whose parents live overseas, I had made email contact with every parent during the term.  I've sent photos of posture, music, recordings, checked lesson times, rescheduled when I've realised before the parents have informed me that their child will be unavailable during their lesson time, and organised music exams.  So now I'm feeling on top of things, as well as rather virtuous.

Outfits.  Amazingly, these are still going.  I have started slipping in slightly more daring pattern mixing without being howled down by the 8-12-yr-old Fashion Police.  The bigger change (in my head, anyway) has been to pick a theme for the week.  The last week of term was 'pattern'; the week before that, floral; and 2 weeks before that, stripes.  I have a few more ideas, but feel free to pitch your idea to me!

Trivia.  Not every week - but many weeks - I've been part of a team for trivia at a local pub.  So much fun.  We normally do fairly poorly - but we have had some good bits too.  Like when the last round theme was 'vegetables'.  So, kale is European, but I got every other answer.  And I'm reasonable at working out the Who Am I (always someone born on that day).

Movies.  After the dodgy experience (Bulletproof Monk), I've been unenthusiastic about watching more movies.  Except for Star Wars, that is.  Episodes IV, V, and VI (review pending) have been very much enjoyed.  Now that holidays are on, I'm feeling like my brain can absorb some more though.

Breakfast.  Except for the mornings with eggs, or with parents (eating the former, eating with the latter), breakfast is now in bed.  I love it.  I get the fan during hotter weather, and the snuggliness during cooler weather.  And Wednesdays are now smoothie mornings as they're also gym mornings.  I'm loving this new schedule.

Photography.  I'm still enjoying Instagram.  I only rarely share them on Facebook, preferring to see them as different bits of my life (mostly).  However, I started taking more and more photos of the cathedral.  As I'm one of the cathedral Facebook page administrators, I decided to share my photos of the cathedral through that medium.  I'm pleased to see they are 'seen' by hundreds of people, and they get so many 'likes' I am quite chuffed.  This is my favourite - looking up in the northwest are of the Narthex.

New Places in Brisbane.  This is something I am so glad I started, and wish I had started long ago.  Although I am a little embarrassed there are so many parts of Brisbane I haven't seen yet, just taking a couple of hours to visit somewhere new is such a good thing for me.  I can tick a few more places off my list, take photos of different aspects of Brisbane, and enjoy some time out in the process.  Big win.

Music.  This has been such a full-on term.  Such a fabulously full-on term.  On Australia Day, there were 6 of us - a non-muso, and 5 string players.  We realised we were a quintet, so had a quintet night.  As we were playing, I was thinking "It would be so nice if we performed this" - then someone else said what I was thinking, so now we're doing a concert.  We're also doing a quartet, so this is a whole lot of Schubert.  A whole lot of fabulous Schubert.  And a whole lot of rehearsing.  I'm loving it. 

After so much socialising though, I am needing to hibernate for a bit.  And to practise.  And weed my garden.  I should emerge in a couple of days.

New Food - Sardines

Yes, it's true - this was my first sardine experience, at least as far as I'm aware.  The last time I was buying tinned fish, sardines were 2 for something, so I took a deep breath and bought 2 packets.  For years I was a tuna person, and then about a year ago I just couldn't take it any more, so switched to salmon.  I thought maybe now I could change it up again.  Today was the day.

I have a recipe for a pasta sauce using sardines, so did something vaguely similar.  A small chopped carrot, cooked with half a tin of chopped tomatoes and some chopped basil stalks, then the basil leaves, some salad greens, and the chopped sardines.  Top with Parmesan.  When I was nearly finished, I realised chilli would have been a great addition.  Next time.

Although I was a bit worried about eating this, once it was all in the sauce it was fine.  I think my aversion prior to this (apart from a Flanders & Swann song from my childhood) was the fact that sardines actually look like fish.  Everything else I eat that used to eat something else no longer looks like a living thing by the time I get to it.  That, and I had a suspicion (unfounded, as it turned out) that sardines would be super-fishy.  I don't think I'm up to having a sardine salad, but as part of something cooked and squished, this was a winner. 

Melbourne Pre-Race

Yesterday, I ran the Melbourne half marathon.  I flew down on Friday afternoon and did some more New Things in Melbourne.

Friday:  I met Jeannie at Flinders St station, where they now have storage facilities (until 9:45pm).  We had dinner at ... um... a pub nearby with a fancy restaurant bit attached, but I can't remember the name.  Although it was a Friday, I didn't have fish and chips but the Atlantic salmon salad instead.  Then we were going to go to a Melbourne Fringe Festival show in which a friend of mine was acting.  The venue was in South Melbourne.  We put it into Apple maps.  There was a station nearby, named North Melbourne Station.  We got there and discovered we were on the wrong side of Melbourne.  We went home.

Saturday:  Breakfast at Las Chicas on Chapel St.  Wow.  One of those super feel-good places, as organic and local and sustainable as possible.  I felt really bad for not being able to finish.  Admittedly, my breakfast included a whole crop of spinach...  Very friendly service, too - we were wished a great day by about 4 staff as we left.

Chapel St shopping.  Flying down and back with only carry-on meant I was not inclined to shop.  But some of those stores were so tempting!  I did try on a dress but I resisted buying anything.  Except undies from the Bonds outlet store but that was more a necessity than anything else.  We also passed (and then went in) San Churro's Chocolateria.  This was on my list of things to do. 

I had my first Spanish hot chocolate (like an Italian hot chocolate but not as thick) - I went Azteca, with added chilli.  I love chilli in my chocolate, have been doing hot chocolate that way for years, and at Easter I make a chilli chocolate cashew mousse, but this was the first Spanish hot chocolate with chilli.  So good!  I thought about buying chocolates.  I did not.  A new thing (for this year, anyway) - not taking photos of all meals and coffees while eating out.  I hope you appreciate the absence of 'oh look, another coffee photo' photos.

Tram to Lygon St - with the trees all decked out in their fresh new leaves, this was so pretty!  I didn't get a photo though.  We had a late lunch (still not all that hungry after the very filling breakfast) at Papa Gino's, then had a few hours before the next thing on my list, so we went to the movies.  Cinema Nova was showing Searching for Sugar Man within about 15 minutes, and it was described as 'heartwarming' so we went for that.  After the second sentence we turned to each other and said, "This isn't heartwarming" - but it turned out to be true.  A documentary rather than a movie, it was the tale of Rodriguez - an amazing story.  I won't be able to do it justice here, so find it and watch it!

The next thing on my list was to see the sunset at St Kilda.  After the movie, we were both pretty tired...and my legs were starting to feel it... and it was overcast and rainy... and I could see us getting home close to 9 after dinner... As the primary purpose of this visit was the half marathon, I decided to abort the sunset/penguins mission.  We walked along South Bank (the Melbourne version) and back to Flinders St.

Rice pasta for dinner - a new experience for me - I'm tempted to buy some as it was rather yummy.  Another new experience was feeling like I could fall asleep at 8pm daylight saving time.  I held out until about 9:30, but still!

In Retrospect - Third Quarter

Another 3 months down - I felt I was stagnating somewhat (for various reasons) for most of these 3 months, but I've had some forced forays out of the comfort zone in the last month or so.

Food.  My new favourite green thing is kale.  I now order it for every delivery.  So far it's only been cooked in stir fries so if there are recipe suggestions out there, speak up!  I've been a bit more creative with biscuit flavours too (even more since the previous biscuit post), and have more ideas up my sleeve.  And having milk (and now, fish as well) delivered weekly is wonderful.  I hardly need to go to a supermarket now!  Plus all that feel-good feeling of helping local farmers - what's not to like?!

Domestics - Indoors.  Just little things.  My brother's stereo has been at my place for ages, but I gave it back to him yesterday.  This means I have cleaner lines in that area (good) but no radio (not so good).  I downloaded an app but it appears to have problems in iOS 6...  The radio in my bedroom still works so that might just have to do me for now.  I bought different cleaning products last week, too - I'd run out but forgotten to reorder.  I really like this new variety (brand name 'method').  The new arrangement of the living room has stuck.  It is more open, and all the students and parents seem to like it more.  I guess it's staying.  And I have new pictures by the stairs (although some of them have fallen down - need bigger hooks).

Domestics - Outdoors.  Whoa - garden!  Some of my older outfit posts have photos taken in the courtyard, and you can see the jungle qualities present.  And the shade/lack of light.  Now, it is much barer, neater, sunnier.  Plus, I have green things growing and not just a few square metres of paving.  I like.  This has also brought back my gardening mojo (at least so far).  Fingers crossed for more edibles other than herbs. 

Me.  I feel I've had a bit of a makeover lately.  New hair, new glasses, new goals for life.  I've been contemplating that which was previously inconceivable.  And I've started doing things, like telling people if there's a problem, or asking people to sign a petition for something I believe is really important.

Other Little Things.  I actually downloaded iOS 6 for my phone - I feel like I have a new phone.  This was not a disaster.  I can now deal with chocolate that is not broken evenly (well, usually).  I am a bit more careful what I share on the internet.  You may have noticed the absence of Spending Reports - this is because I haven't bought any clothes or accessories for 3 whole months.  This began as a "let's see if I can do this" and now it's in that "how long can this go on" phase.  I even tried on a dress at my favourite Lifeline last week, but decided against it.  Having just seen my shoe collection en masse I suspect it's time for a wardrobe cull.  I've started ordering things online more.  It seems we've started a dinner party tradition with the group from church (we had one last night - they're fabulous!).  I started another blog.  I can run with far less brain preparation than before - and even do better than if I had more brain preparation.  Weird.  Oh, and I've been reading a book series out of order.  I've read them all before (I don't think I could have coped otherwise), but read #3, then #2, #4 and again #4 (couldn't sleep one night last week at the coast).  Blaming it on the library...

So, although parts of these 3 months have seen me huddled in a corner, I have changed a lot of my surroundings and person and way that I am. 

Monday's photo:

Dinner last night was indeed fabulous.  Dessert was all homemade of course - lemon tart with raspberry and lemon sorbets and (lactose-free) vanilla bean ice cream.

Today's photo:

I am very pleased with this pot of herbs.  The basil has had a resurgence recently, the parsley isn't dead, and the chives (newbies) are still alive.  The whole thing looks like an explosion of green.

In Retrospect - Second Quarter

It's that time of year.  3 months since my last retrospective, so here's how I feel I've changed since then.

Food:  Something you wouldn't know - unless you've been spying on me in a serious way - is that my school lunches have changed.  For quite some time (more than a year, that is), my school lunches were really predictable.  This term, I've started taking non-salads occasionally.  Especially welcome in colder weather to have a hot lunch!  A great food behaviour change has been the introduction of No Cook Weeks.  These are the greatest.  I have fresh organic fruit and veges delivered every fortnight, and the week following will be a Cook Week, the week after a No Cook Week.  I still have quite a stash of frozen meals in the freezer, plus it's holidays right now and I'm cooking quite a lot, so this wonderful destress habit can continue for a while.  Knowing that I don't have to do anything except thaw and heat is such a calming feeling.  Obviously, I love cooking, but I love not needing to cook as well.  An added benefit is I am more likely to cook the fresh produce before it's past its best instead of needing to ditch it.  The other food behaviour change is another not many would have noticed - I no longer buy peanut butter.  I gave it up for Lent, then went a bit crazy with it after Easter.  Peanut butter is no longer my friend.  I had decided I couldn't trust myself with it, when a quote came up on Facebook - if you can't eat it responsibly, don't keep it in your house.  Good advice.

Clothes:  The 'search keywords' that lead people to this blog are usually fairly ordinary (recipes, movies, that sort of thing).  By far the most searched item though is stockings.  This has been a bit of a surprise... and a little unnerving...  Nevertheless, I am far more adventurous with my stockings now, and they definitely initiate comments and conversations.

Organisation:  I have a slightly more organised house.  Not by much, but every little bit helps, right?

Photography:  I'm loving the Daily Photo.  Partly, it's feeling like I have an excuse to take those photos I'd normally walk past because I'm a local.  But I'm also enjoying getting up close and personal with my environment again, and seeing my world through the lens again.  And seeing the colours in the northwest of the state - so different from Brisbane! - made for an even more interesting trip to Mt Isa and Townsville.

Running:  This feels like the big one.  Running is a brain thing for me, and to train for the half marathon involved not just running but brain training as well.  Taking different routes and doing different gym workouts, as well as different running shoes and tweaking little things about my running practice - these all helped the Gold Coast Half Marathon to be a successful and positive experience for me.  Having run many, many kilometres in these shoes now, one big bonus about them is the grip.  To get anywhere, I need to run down a fairly steep hill, which is often (usually) covered in leaves.  When it's been raining, this makes for a slippery descent.  Similarly, the downhill slopes on the bike path can be a bit on the slippery side after (or during) rain.  I can feel these shoes really gripping though, and I no longer worry I'm going to slip.

Coffee and Movies:  Looking at the list of blog posts for the last 3 months, I see a lot of coffee places listed...  Now when I have a catch up with someone, we purposely find somewhere I haven't been before, so it can get to the blog.  I also see on the list many movies I wouldn't normally have watched.  I like that people will ask if I've seen something, then if I haven't they loan it to me.  This is not just broadening my movie experience, but I am flattered that people want to know what I think!

The Term 2 Goals:  Well.  The facial expressions were a bit of a disaster after the first week or so - it was so hard!  I am very pleased to report, though, that I was successful in putting away teaching materials after each day.  I think I can say now that the practice has now become a habit.  Woohoo!

Tuesday's Daily Photo:

Gin cocktails - experimental, of course!  Needs something like lemonade or tonic water.  But, the shelves looked far more interesting through the glass.

Not Cooking

It's probably no secret that I like cooking.  A lot.  I don't, however, eat all I cook.  Some of it I take to school, some is eaten by family and friends... and some is stockpiled in the freezer.  On Monday mornings I go to the supermarket after Trainer Dan (this morning I very nearly cried) and stock up on things for lunches, milk, any other things I might need.  This weekend, I was thinking ahead for what I should buy - should I do a casserole, any soup.... and then I figured, whatever I do will need to have its leftovers frozen.  And I have very few available containers because they're all in the freezer, holding leftovers.  I did a tally - 1 x mince, 1 x risotto, 2 x spicy fish soup and 2 x amazing chicken casseroles.  Plus the soup I made with the last sweet potatoes, pumpkin and celery left in the vegetable drawer.  So this week, I'm eating my way through my freezer. 

So far, so good.  In fact, really good.  I feel I have so much more time available tonight because dinner involved reheating, not choosing and chopping and cooking.  I even did my ironing and will make some cards shortly.  And, with the way this week is looking (a trivia night, rehearsals and a concert plus all the practice that I need to do), this extra time will be much appreciated.

In Retrospect - First Quarter

Three months into my Living Less Predictably lifestyle change, I thought it would be a good idea to see how things have really changed.  I have noticed some big changes, a general attitude change, and some other smaller changes.

Food
The reason I brought back the 'new recipe each week' last year was, honestly, I was waking up some mornings dreaming about weird food combinations.  This year I haven't made a new recipe each week, but my brain hasn't started to rebel yet either.  This week I'm hoping for some more variety though!  I've enjoyed the recipes I have made, mostly, and silken tofu and quark make regular appearances in my diet now.  I'm also much more likely to try a new brand or new food, often purposely searching out a new variety.

Clothes
This has been a big change.  I've mentioned before why I needed to change this, and I've really noticed the difference recently.  Last year was really a matter of "What's in my wardrobe that doesn't need ironing?" but this year I actually think about what I'm wearing, if I've worn this combination before, if it's actually going to look good (and, let's face it, photograph well).  Planning outfits before the week begins has also helped immensely. 

The other clothing change has been my attitude towards clothes.  Most of the clothes I've bought in the last 6 months don't really fit anymore.  While this is sad, I'm much more content now with the idea of giving them away and getting myself some new clothes (from op shops).  Previously, I would have stared at a suspect item for a while (like, a year at least), then maybe had a probation wearing, and then if I don't like it, stare at it for a bit more, until deciding I need to give it away.  On Wednesday though, I just pulled 2 dresses out of my cupboard and gave them away - I knew they would look better on this friend than on me, and they'd only had 1 outing each this term.  Gone.

Exercise and Health
The exercise regime change has been a great change.  It's really easy to notice improvements - I'm running further and faster, I can go faster up hills, and I can run up the hill on which I live.  I don't think I take as many breaks in gym sessions (although that might be just me...), and I have much more variety in what I do. 

I'm a much trimmer version of me.  Last year, I started the Zone eating plan, and Trainer Dan recommended measuring, not just weighing.  I was rather sporadic in that last year, so this year I'm being organised (or OCD), and measuring every 4 weeks.  So far I've lost 3 cm from my waist.

Viewing
Although I still have nights where all I can do is curl up on the sofa and watch NCIS, I have watched so much more this year.  So many movies, nearly all of them good.  One horrendous movie that I wouldn't wish on anyone, but apart from that, a very interesting mix.  And I have so many more to see!  I'm also far less rigid in my viewing habits, which has to be a good thing.

Social Occasions
This has been the biggest change I've noticed so far.  I'm much more likely to say Yes to something, and am starting to be able to change my plans (like last week).  Fridays have turned into social occasions, and I worry far less if I will have enough sleep.  Mostly because I've hardly slept all term.  Although I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm comfortable socialising now, I am less uncomfortable socialising, and more likely to actually do something instead of just staying home. 

I have a few ideas for new things for the next quarter - let me know if you have any ideas for me to try!

New Food - Quark

I have often seen Quark in the general store when I'm ordering extras with the fruit and veg box, and never before been game enough to order it.  A friend has just started eating it and said it was the best stuff, so I thought I'd give it a go.  The apparent selling point of "it's just like cottage cheese" was quite a deterrent (having loathed that as a child, I tried it again last year - still foul), but a reassurance of "but it's so much nicer, not lumpy at all" made it better.  Plus it's meant to have some good stuff in there for your brain.  And who can go past that name?  Quark quark quark...

Looking at the nutrition information, there was a bit of a reorganisation of my plans for it.  10. 8 g protein and a whopping 9.6 g fat means I'll count it as a fat, not a protein.  (I had ordered the skim version but they were out of stock, and as I'd never had this before I didn't mind the substitution).

When I started eating it, my tastebuds-brain connections went a bit haywire but by the end of the meal they'd settled somewhat.  In taste it reminds me more of mascarpone than anything else, rich and creamy, so it will be a healthy dessert option for now.  Unless I get creative and do a dip or something. 

Do you eat quark?  Any recipe suggestions?

Kathmandu

Last night I went to Kathmandu for dinner. 

I taught this girl from when she was in grades 8 - 11... She's now in grade 12, and her mum called me a few weeks ago.  "I'm so sorry", she said.  "She's giving up everything, even debating... Can we have you over for dinner?"  I understand grade 12 students cutting back and focusing on study, so I wasn't upset with them.  I remember being at that stage of life, and although I still had violin lessons, there was a phone call around the end of August of that year from my violin teacher.  "I'm putting exam entries in tonight.  Yes or no?" Ummmmm.........No.  Like many other students, I wanted to focus on getting good grades.

So, dinner last night.  Originally the plan was for me to go to their place for dinner, but their life has been rather hectic so they took me to Kathmandu instead.  I had passed this little restaurant several times and always thought, that looks nice, but never eaten there.  It's good.  And, apparently (according to a Nepalese colleague of this girl's mother), authentic.  We all shared, of course. 

Starters: Tibetan bread (yum!), vegetarian and meat momos, and pakoras.  I'd had momos before, at the Tibetan Kitchen in the Valley, but not the other selections.  Sometimes food, sometimes food.

Main: ummm, No. 54.  I think it was called Goru ko masu (apologies to any Nepalese reading this...).  The main thing is, slow cooked beef with cardamom, chili, coriander, cumin.  I love all the 'C' spices.  Plus I tried the very delicious Sherpa Chicken and Pesto Chicken. 

We ordered coffees, and our waiter let us know it was organic coffee so it might taste a little different.  I've not had that before - but as I use organic coffee myself, and try to go to coffee places that use organic, it tasted normal for me. 

I was going to take a photo of at least one of the food items, but we were in a dimly lit area so I didn't even try.  Obviously, I'll have to go back.... And maybe next time, try the floor cushion seating instead of a regular table.  This restaurant is on Latrobe Tce, Paddington, if anyone wants some traditional Nepalese yumminess, aromatic yet light curries, and gentle, lovely wait staff.

Peach

I'm not sure if I should admit this.  I mean, it's one thing to just not buy them.  My absolute closest friends know.  Here it is: I don't like fresh peaches. 

I tried, I really did.  My mum developed an allergy to them before I was born, so I didn't grow up eating them.  When I left home, I'd buy them...eat one...erk.  So I stopped wasting my money, and I'd leave them in the shops for more appreciative consumers.

Now I have my fruit and vegetables delivered (organic, easy, wonderful).  If peaches are in the set box, I choose something else.  The last delivery, however, included them anyway.  I contemplated offloading them to those close friends who know my secret - but thought, maybe the organic peaches will be different.  These have lasted wonderfully well - the delivery was 12 days ago and they are largely unblemished. 

This afternoon, I ate one.  It won't be my last.  I'd still rather have a yellow-flesh nectarine, or a peach without the skin.  But it wasn't wasted, it was enjoyed.  Maybe there's hope for me after all.